Sleep mode (also referred to as Stand By, Sleep, Suspend) refers to a low power mode of operation for electronic devices (e.g., computers, televisions, etc.). Many battery-operated devices, such as notebook computers, support a sleep mode. Sleep mode can save significant electrical consumption compared to leaving a device fully on by powering down unnecessary components. For example, when a notebook computer goes into sleep mode, it shuts down the display screen and disk drive. Once awakened, the computer returns to its former operating status without a user having to reset programming codes or wait for a machine to reboot.
A computer may experience an error (e.g., a sequencing error) while the computer is entering sleep or exiting sleep such that the computer may experience a system failure, automatically shut down due to the error, and need to be rebooted. After a computer has been rebooted, however, there is no information to help determine a cause of the system failure. There is a lack of data to help debug a system failure which has occurred while a computer is entering or awakening from sleep. In addition, any data that may be available may not easily be identified as data related to a sleep event or wake event.